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Wednesday, May 9

When these two programs met just over two weeks ago in Chapel Hill, North Carolina exploded to a 9-0 lead after only three innings of play.

The fourth-ranked Tar Heels (39-10) built another early advantage in this one and went on to defeat the 30 th-ranked Pirates, 5-1, before the second largest crowd (5,076) in Clark-LeClair Stadium history.

East Carolina starter Jeff Ostrander, who allowed four runs in only 2/3 of an inning of relief in the first match-up, struggled with his command early and North Carolina’s potent line-up made him pay.

With two down in the top half of the first, North Carolina’s Dustin Ackley singled through the middle. Ostrander proceeded to fall behind Tar Heels’ clean-up hitter Tim Federowicz and “Fed Ex” crushed a 2-0 pitch well over the left field Jungle to give his team a 2-0 lead.

UNC-CH extended its lead to 3-0 in the second when leadoff man Chad Flack blasted a 2-1 Ostrander offering out to left field.

North Carolina, which has a key ACC series with Georgia Tech this weekend, entered the game with the intentions of it being “a staff night” and it was definitely just that.

Matt Danford (4-0), who has been the Tar Heels’ top middle reliever, received the starting nod and earned the win.. The senior righty pitched well in the unfamiliar role, shutting the Pirates out thru three innings. He finished the night allowing one run on two hits while striking out five in 3 1/3 innings of work.

East Carolina pulled within 3-1 in the fourth. Ryan Tousley doubled down the right field line to start the inning. After Danford struck out the Pirates’ next batter Stephen Batts, Mike Fox went to his bullpen. Freshman lefty Rob Catapano came in and only faced one batter. After falling behind in the count and allowing an RBI-single to Jake Dean, he was lifted in favor of designated hitter and hard-throwing right-hander Tim Federowicz.

Federowicz, who also catches, shut the ECU bats down. He struck out six batters in only 2 1/3 innings of work.

The Tar Heels pushed their lead to 5-1 in the fifth when Reid Fronk lofted a two-run shot onto the practice football field beyond the right field wall. Kyle Seager, who scored on Fronk’s homer, kept the inning alive by producing a single through the right side.

The Tar Heels’ third homer of the game resulted in the end of Jeff Ostrander’s night. Pirate coach Billy Godwin inserted sophomore Bailey Daniels. Daniels allowed only an infield single in 2 1/3 innings of relief. Jason Neitz and Shane Mathews also saw an inning of action out of the ECU bullpen.

They kept the Pirates within striking distance—allowing no runs and only two hits in 4 1/3, but the East Carolina bats were simply overmatched by North Carolina’s pitching. ECU batters struck out 17 times in the contest, only one shy of the school record.

When they did have opportunities, the Pirates could not deliver the timely hit as they stranded ten runners in the contest.

In the seventh, Jamie Ray and Harrison Eldridge reached on back-to-back one out singles, but were left on after Ryan Wood hit in to a fielder’s choice and Ryan Tousley struck out.

ECU would threaten again in the eighth. Stephen Batts, who struck out in his first three trips to the plate, extended his hitting streak to 15 games by leading off with an infield single to third base. Then, Andrew Carignan walked Jake Dean on four straight and the Pirates had two on with no one out. However, the Tar Heels’ closer settled down and got out of the inning unscathed.

Mike Fox inserted Greenville-product Alex White, who is one of the Tar Heels’ weekend starters, to close the deal in the ninth. He sat the Pirates down in order while striking out two.

North Carolina was actually outhit, 8-7, by East Carolina, but it scored all five of its runs via the long ball. No Tar Heel had more than one hit in the game. Reid Fronk, who was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, reached base in all four of his plate appearances. He was walked twice and hit by a pitch in his other trips to the plate.

Harrison Eldridge, who did not play in last night’s 8-6 loss to The Citadel due to an injured toe, led East Carolina. The Pirates’ centerfielder finished the night 2-for-5.

Kyle Roller and Corey Kemp were the only ECU starters that did not collect a hit in the contest.

Pirate starter Jeff Ostrander took the loss and fell to 2-1 on the season.

East Carolina will return to action this weekend when it hosts upstart UCF in a critical three-game CUSA series at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville.

NOTE: East Carolina turned four double plays in the game.